Sunday, September 23, 2007

stoning the prophets: kickoff

Stoning the prophets kicked off today. And an excellent kickoff it was. The space was wrapped in black cloth. River stones were piled in the middle along with a big black bible. Grass tussocks and box lighting added to the environment.

A brief welcome and a warning, that this could well be hard work. We so very rarely engage with the prophets in church, let alone large chunks of Scripture, let alone large chunks read aloud.

With that warning, we listened to the prophet Hosea. From chapter 1 to chapter 14. It took nearly 50 minutes, simply listening to the power of a long gone poetic voice.

Then the invite to pick up a stone from the pile in the middle and to share what struck us. People shared and then tossed their stone back onto the pile. There is something very primal about the sound of stone striking stone. There is something rich and powerful about being among a community taking the word of God seriously, as a community and not from a preaching expert.

Stoning the prophets continues for the next 11 weeks, from 5:30 pm, upstairs, in the Friendship Centre. It is designed to partner a 12 week preaching series on the minor prophets happening in our morning congregation. And it makes me wonder why we don’t do this every week, simply gathering to listen to large chunks of Scripture being read in community.

1 Comment

It’s frightening and wonderful to imagine what kind of corporate imagination could be kindled from such reading!

I’m glad you called the prophet a “poet”. I am reminded of a great evening of poetry reading I attended many years ago at the Mussel Inn in Golden Bay. Since then I have wondered many times why our church communities seem so repelled by the simple act of gathering to read, listen and share.

Please keep us posted on anything that arises out of this time of listening.